Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharon Birkman.
Sharon, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My leadership story kicked off in 2002. I became the “surprise” leader of Birkman International, which was then a 51-year-old company founded by my parents. You could call me a poster child for having a second career. We were a family business, so I’d always been involved part-time or on the sidelines. In 2000, I joined full-time to learn day to day operations as I saw my gifted father, Dr. Roger Birkman, founder and creator of the Birkman assessment, struggling with issues of aging and succession planning. He was turning 80, and there had recently been a revolving door of presidents at Birkman so this inspired me to step into the fray. After all, how hard could it be?
When my dad agreed, the staff looked shocked and my learning curve had to spin into warp speed. While I was accustomed to directing people and ideas in the arts world, the corporate world was new and uncharted territory. I grabbed every book I could find on leadership and management, but the opportunity to learn directly on the job and from peers helped me most. I did a lot of listening, joined executive think tanks and a few years into my new role, and attended the three-year OPM program at Harvard Business School. Along with HBS, I’ve gained confidence and valuable insights from memberships in Vistage and the Women Presidents’ Organization.
I believe we learn most powerfully by just doing. There are no silver bullets or crystal balls, so despite my attempts to make the absolute best decisions, there have been many stumbles and mistakes along the way and these have provided the most valuable lessons. In the past few years, I’ve won some great awards, but I am clear that the only reward that really matters is to lead a company where the success and profitability of the organization is matched (or surpassed) by a culture of people who show up daily, share their talents and are happy to be part of your journey.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
What one can know for sure is that there will never be smooth roads in running a company. What keeps business exciting and challenging are all the variables at play. Some things you can control: how you determine your ethics, your values, how you define your culture and who you choose to hire. There are other factors that are beyond your control: the economy, disruptive changes, political impact and the dynamism of human interaction. We are more fortunate than other organizations since we have our own behavioral/career assessment which helps us understand the complexity of the people factor, keeps us better informed, aids more accurate predictions about career pathing and directs us on how to best retain and motivate our staff.
Birkman International – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Birkman is a career and interpersonal assessment that has nearly seven decades of research and proven success to validate its reliability, scientific quality and excellence. We have a strong focus on leadership development, team dynamics, coaching and career intelligence combined with a long list of applications where our data can drive productivity by making better use of everyone’s most expensive and important resource—our people. Here is how I would define our mission: to enrich all relationships with a deeper understanding of self and others. Our goal is to help others be better versions of themselves. By understanding both self and others, we can more successfully navigate the dynamics and uniqueness of personality.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
There are several proud moments that stand out for me. One was my very first Board meeting as the CEO when a longtime Board member brought expensive champagne for a toast because we had such a successful year. Frankly, I think he’d been dubious about my leadership appointment. Another exciting moment was to see the first hardcover copy of my book, The Birkman Method: Your Personality at Work published by Jossey-Bass. It was thrilling to celebrate and receive the “EY Entrepreneur of the Year Gulf Coast Area regional award” in 2016 with my colleagues and to also feel so much pride in our employees as we won “Best and Brightest Places to Work” at the local and national levels each year since 2014.
These are all great memories, but I’d have to say my proudest moments are the touching, personal moments when I happen to meet someone who, when they find out I am “Birkman,” want to tell me their story and what a significant and inspiring difference our work has made in their life. Sometimes the memory they describe causes their eyes to well up with tears and mine do as well. Whenever this happens, these are my proudest moments.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3040 Post Oak Dr, Ste 1425
- Website: www.birkman.com
- Phone: 800-215-2760
- Email: dsheley@birkman.com – VP of Public Relations, Business Development (Diana Sheley)
- Instagram: Facebook: Birkman or Inside Birkman
- Facebook: Linked In: Birkman International
- Twitter: Twitter: @Birkman
- Yelp: Instagram: Birkman
- Other: Pinterest: Birkman Youtube: Birkman or Birkman1951
Image Credit:
Birkman International
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